


Peace and Comfort

by FanGirlofManyThings



Series: Voltron Snuggles [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddle Pile, Cuddles, No Dialogue, Platonic Cuddling, Sleep, snuggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 09:20:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11310420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanGirlofManyThings/pseuds/FanGirlofManyThings
Summary: When Pidge can't sleep she goes to the observatory to relax. Soon relaxing turns into sleeping in a pig pile with the other paladins and Allura.





	Peace and Comfort

Pidge was lying on the padded floor of the observation deck, watching the stars fly by as the castle-ship hurtled through space to its destination. This destination was the newest in a rather short list of places that her brother and father may be. There hadn’t been any sign of them at the last three and Pidge didn’t have much hope that they’d be at this latest one. But Allura said that at the very least they were gathering information on Galra outposts and tactics.

Pidge let out a short huff, at least something useful was coming of her seemingly fruitless mission to locate her family. Her lower lip wobbled as she thought about her brother’s bright smile and her father’s seemingly infinite wisdom. But she fought back the tears; she was determined to save the tears until after they had been found. After all, she kept telling herself, tears wouldn’t bring them back.

Pidge gave her head a soft shake and reminded herself of why she was lying on the floor in the first place. She needed to clear her mind before dark thoughts crawled back from the depths of her mind and left her an anxious wreck. The observation deck was the perfect place to clear one’s head. The monotonous passage of stars combined with the almost church like silence of the space made it perfect for the task of meditating.

Pidge fell back on the deep breathing techniques she had learned as a way of clearing her mind when a coding problem became overly complicated. It helped clear all the extraneous details from her mind and allow her to focus on the problem at hand. However this time she focused on nothing but the even rhythm of her breathing and the streaks of starlight as they flew by. Soon the tangle of thoughts that plagued her every moment quieted, subdued for the moment by a force of will.

With her thoughts cleared, sleep crept up on her slowly. A bit like a cat that didn’t want its owner to believe that it actually enjoyed spending time with them. But before it could claim her for some much needed rest, the doors to the observation deck whooshed open to admit a man with ink colored hair and a red jacket. Pidge tensed a little but when the newcomer didn’t attempt to speak with her she relaxed again.

Keith paused for a moment at the threshold of the observation deck, contemplating if he would be intruding. But Pidge hadn’t yelled at him for disturbing her, so he guessed his company wasn’t unwelcome. Besides, he gave a small shrug, wasn’t like he was Lance, Keith could at least respect a person’s desire for silence.

He padded slowly to the opposite side of the dome from Pidge and slipped off his jacket. He very unceremoniously dropped to the floor and shoved the jacket behind his head. He crossed his arms loosely over his chest and watched the stars pass by. He found himself here on days when training didn’t take the edge off and he couldn’t sleep. Slowly he lost himself in the passage of the heavenly bodies above.

Across the room Pidge had begun to shiver, the disturbance of her peace had caused the warmth of sleep to leave her. Though as she lay there contemplating, her limbs felt too heavy to walk to the elevator and from the elevator down the long twisting hallways to her room. But the problem still remained that she was now cold. Wrapping her arms around herself did little good to dispel the chill that had settled on her.

Pidge decided that some action was needed so, she slowly rolled over and then pushed up to all fours. Very slowly she crawled across the padded floor towards Keith. She made sure to make a little scratching noise every time she dragged a leg across the floor. Sneaking up on Keith was something that was paid for dearly and she didn’t feel like doing that this evening. No, Pidge had one goal in mind currently. Suck the warmth from Keith like he was a sun heated rock and she was a lizard that had spent the last 2 hours in an ice box.

Keith, for his part, did nothing more than listen to Pidge’s careful approach. Tracking her every movement without so much as turning his head. He could hear her as she came closer, though he couldn’t puzzle out why she was. He had assumed from her lack of greeting that she wanted space this evening and had endeavored to give it to her.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the bright lights above him, Keith allowed Pidge to do as she pleased. He was tempted to look at her, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. But the soft brush of her hair against his arm weakened his resolve. It crumbled completely when she pushed her head more firmly into his bicep.

He looked down at her and was met with large pleading eyes. He furrowed his brow, unsure of what she wanted from him. She was lying next to him, on her side, almost like she wanted…

Oh, Keith understood now and lifted his arm to allow the smallest paladin to lay her head on his chest. She threw an arm around his waist and snuggled firmly into his side, letting out a small hum of pleasure. He gently lowered his arm around her waist and returned to the stars. Listening to the even rhythm of Pidge’s breathing lulled Keith into a state of peacefulness he had been searching for all evening.

The warmth radiating from under Keith’s thin shirt brought back the state of sleepiness he had unknowingly disturbed. Pidge’s eyes began to droop and at first she tried to fight sleep. But then Keith began absent mindedly rubbing small circles on her hip with his thumb and Pidge lost the battle. Sleep claimed her for its own.

Keith let the peace of the situation wash over him. Soaking in the quiet moment and letting his troubles get whisked away with each passing star. Then the doors opened and he could hear two pairs of feet moving across the floor towards him. One pair of feet came to a stop with their toes brushing his head, the other was off to his side.

Keith slowly opened his eyes to find Lance and Hunk looking down at him and Pidge with questioning looks on their faces. Lance opened his mouth to say something, but Keith shook his head and shot a meaningful look down at Pidge. Lance for once didn’t argue with him and simply shrugged.

Thinking that would be the end of it. Keith let his eyes drift shut again. Only to have them snap open again as Lance lifted the arm not holding Pidge, so that he could mimic Pidge. Having Lance curled against him was a lot different than holding Pidge. For one Pidge had settled down quickly, Lance seemed to need to press every inch of his long limbs against Keith. Once Lance deemed himself comfortable he placed one arm across the sleeping Pidge and a light kiss on the tip of her nose. Keith lowered his arm around Lance’s waist and Lance gave a happy sigh.

Keith hoped that would be the end of it, so that he could go back to his peace. But that was apparently wishful thinking because two seconds after he closed his eyes, Lance abruptly sat up.

Lance looked over at Hunk, who was sitting next to the three of them, arms wrapped around his knees and staring at the stars. Keith thought there was a touch of sadness on his face that usually wasn’t present. Lance leaned over and poked Hunk in the shoulder to get his attention.

As Hunk glanced over at them, Keith watched as the sadness was covered up with Hunk’s trademark grin. Hunk obviously believed this smile to be enough to satisfy Lance and returned to watching the stars pass them by.

Lance however was not satisfied and resorted to tugging on the arm of Hunk’s shirt. Hunk looked over at them, brow furrowed slightly. Lance tugged Hunk’s shirt again. However Hunk was clearly not getting the message that Lance was trying to convey because he just looked more confused.

Keith, however, had an inkling of an idea of what Lance was trying to get Hunk to do, so he gently pushed Lance back into his chest. Lance struggled briefly, clearly upset at not achieving his goal but Keith soothed him by running a hand through his hair a few times.

Once Lance was settled again, Keith stretched out his arm and poked Hunk in the ribs. Hunk gave a small jump and then shot Keith a halfhearted glare. But Keith just patted the space next to Lance, trying to encourage the big guy to join the cuddle pile by spooning Lance. This time Hunk seemed to get the message because he stretched out his legs and very gently wrapped himself around Lance, carefully fitting himself to the curves of the other boy.

Hunk gave Keith a gentle smile as he pillowed his head on his arm and let his eyes drift shut. Keith watched him for a moment, until he was satisfied that the sadness would not return to his friends face before closing his eyes again. This time sleep came for him swiftly and he found he could not fight its pull.

Lance was reveling in the warmth rolling off the bodies surrounding him. The calm breathing surrounding him helping to drive away the homesickness. The pile of bodies felt a bit like the cuddle piles he had with his siblings back home. They used to all squish together on the one couch in their living room to watch movies. His lip quivered a little at the thought of his family but there were no tears. Instead he focused on the sensations surrounding him.

The gentle rise and fall of Keith and Hunk’s chests, the soft snores from Pidge and the feeling of comfort radiating from his teammates. It wasn’t long before he joined his teammates in dreamland.

Hunk gave Lance’s thin frame a quick squeeze, and smiled at the sleepy hum that the boy issued. It had been a long time since Hunk had been this close to people but it felt nice. Nice to feel the warmth of his teammates and the comfort it brought him. Though sleep did not seem to be coming for him, Hunk enjoyed cuddling up to his friends and simply being.

For a long while the only sounds in the observation deck were breathing and the small sleep noises Lance made every once in a while. Suddenly the doors opened, punctuating the peace. Hunk glanced up, as Shiro and Allura walked in having a hushed conversation.

They fell silent, though, as they caught sight of the cuddle pile, currently taking place on the floor.

Allura didn’t hesitate for a moment before she moved to mirror Hunk by gently curling around Pidge. She gave Hunk as smile and then glanced up at Shiro. For his part Shiro hadn’t moved since he had noticed the four of them lying on the floor. Though a look of fondness had settled across his handsome features. Hunk spared him another glance before deciding that there was little he could do to encourage Shiro to join them and shut his eyes again.

As Allura settled against Pidge, she looked back at Shiro. She could see the uncertainty in his face, hidden in the fondness. She watched him for a few moments, waiting to see if he’d come to the realization he was welcome to join the snuggle fest as well.

When that didn’t seem to be happening she raised an arm and gestured between the group on the floor and Shiro. Shiro only shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. Allura frowned at him, disappointed in his stubbornness. Shiro gave her an exacerbated look and shifted from one foot to the other, clearly unsure of what to do.

Allura rolled away from Pidge and stood up. She walked over to Shiro and placed her hands on his shoulders. Carefully she guided him over to where Hunk was lying. She drew a perpendicular line leading away from Hunk’s back with her hand. Shiro still looked uncertain, so she gave him a small shove in the back.

Not expecting that Shiro landed on one knee, He glanced up from his position on the floor and shot Allura a small glare. She just smiled at him victoriously and returned to Pidge. She was just getting settled when Shiro gave a small sigh and settled against Hunk’s back.

Hunk was half-way to sleep when he suddenly felt a weight on his ribs. Cracking one eye, Hunk glanced over his shoulder to find Shiro slumped against him, arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed. Hunk thought he looked younger with all the worry lines, which usually adorned his face, relaxed.

Hunk looked over at Allura, who gave him a triumphant wink and then promptly snuggled closer into Pidge. Hunk decided that however Allura hadn’t gotten Shiro to join them could be determined in the morning, if she could be coerced to tell it, and returned to his journey to the land of dreams.

Shiro lay awake long after his teammates breathing evened out. He worried, as always, that all of them weren’t getting enough sleep. He knew Pidge was often up late tinkering, or searching through Galra data. Keith spent long nights fighting the gladiator on the training deck. When he wandered past Lance’s room in the dead of night, small sobs could be heard more often than not from beyond the door. Hunk was often found making a very late night snack in the kitchen or at Pidge’s side. And Shiro often passed Allura wandering the halls during his nightly walks.

He knew none of them got enough sleep, stress would do that to a person. But knowing that the five people behind him were going to get a good night’s sleep tonight, eased his own anxiety a little.

As a little of his self-imposed stress lifted, Shiro allowed himself to relax. He felt the gentle pull of sleep and for the first time in a long time nothing was calling at him to fight it. Warmth soaked into him, pulling him farther from consciousness.


End file.
